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Hyperspace Slingshot
A device used to slingshot ships and other non-hyperdrive equipped craft vast interstellar distances without the requirement of their own FTL system.
The device itself is generally made of four or more struts, set in an even, equidistant spacing from each other, allowing a starship to pass between them. The struts themselves house all the equipment to generate a hyperspace window, as well as imbue the craft with a subspace field to keep them in hyperspace long enough that they reach their destination. Slingshots need no receiving device at the destination and take up less initial power than something similar, like a mass relay, which must keep the FTL tunnel open the entire time the ship is in transit.
Once a ship is in transit, it will continue until the subspace field around the ship dissipates and the ship will cleanly exit into normal space. This is all calculated pre-jump. Ships can be outfitted with a device to allow them to set their own exit points, by manually dissipating the field, or they can use their own FTL system, if required.
Each strut houses the following:
- Computer Cores
- Multiple power sources
- Hyperdrive window generators
- Hyperdrive field coils
- Sublight manoeuvring thrusters
- Tractor emitters
Usage
A ship with clearance, will request a destination along the path of the slingshot. The slingshot will scan the craft, calculate the required field strength, orient itself in the correct direction, and send a flight path for the inbound ship to follow. If required, the slingshot will use tractor emitters to guide the craft.
Note